BBC ON THIS DAY | 3 | 1993: Grand National ends in 'shambles' About This Site | Text Only 1993: Grand National ends in 'shambles' The Grand National has ended in chaos after a series of events at the start which reduced the world-famous horse race to a shambles. An estimated 300 million people around the world were watching the race, held at the Aintree racecourse in Liverpool, live on television, when 30 of the 39 riders failed to realise a false start had been called and set off around the racetrack. The Jockey Club was forced to declare the race void after several riders completed both laps of the gruelling 30-obstacle course and passed the finish line before they realised their mistake. Aintree has said it is unlikely the race will be re-run, and bookmakers are faced with repaying the �75 million in bets placed on the race. False starts The disastrous sequence of events began seconds before the race was due to start, when protestors got onto the track near the first fence. They were spotted, and after a delay, the race officials asked horses and riders to line up again.

Then there were two false starts caused by horses getting tangled up with the starting tape. On the second false start, the recall flag, which signals riders to pull up once they have started, was not waved, and all but nine riders raced away. The recall man, Ken Evans, is being interviewed by stewards to find out why he did not wave his flag. Frantic shouting The crowd shouted frantically at the jockeys to get them to stop, and officials tried desperately to flag them down from the side of the track, but without success. In the end, 11 riders had completed the first circuit before pulling up, and seven never realised anything was wrong, racing right to the finish line in the four-and-a-half-mile (7 km) race. Esha Ness, a 50-1 outsider trained by Jenny Pitman and ridden by John White, crossed the line first. "I could see there were only a few horses around, but I thought the others had fallen or something," White said after the race. Mrs Pitman, who became the first woman to train a first Grand National winner in 1983 with Corbiere, was devastated.

"This is no Grand National, even though I have won it," she said. The owner of Esha Ness, Patrick Bancroft, is understood to be considering suing Aintree over the �76,000 prize money for first place. David Pipe, spokesman for The Jockey Club, said there would be an urgent inquiry into the incident. The Grand National that never was 1993 20 years on | Daily Mail Online comments Standing on the starter’s steps in his raincoat and distinctive bowler, Captain Keith Brown waved an unfurled red flag at the start of the Grand National That Never Was. The wet weather being blown across Aintree by a cold, brisk wind 20 years ago had made his flag limp and, anyway, the former Cavalry officer appeared to have his fingers and right thumb over the bottom part of the cloth. Brown was responding to a second false start. The first one, after a delay caused by animal rights protestors, had been successfully brought back by Ken Evans, who reacted to the starter’s signal by waving his own recall flag 100 yards down the course.

The race that never was: The horses line-up at Aintree in 1993 before the farcical second false start Both times the starting tape entangled some of the 39 horses and riders when Brown plunged the archaic and faulty ‘grey gate’ mechanism. On the second occasion, the tape — no more than thick knicker elastic — was sagging in the rain. It ended up wound around the neck of Wont Be Gone Long’s jockey Richard Dunwoody. While he and eight others remained at the start, 30 horses stormed towards the first fence. But this time Evans, a racecourse employee on £28 a day, seemingly failed to wave his flag, at least adequately enough, to stop the advancing cavalry charge. Accused: Captain Keith Brown waves the red flag as he tries to stop the race for the second time That was how the most notorious race in the history of the world’s greatest steeplechase began — or partially began — on April 3, 1993.

The day ended with Brown derided as Captain Calamity, booed by restive sections of the 50,000 crowd and protected by police from possible manhandling by a baying mob. Des Lynam, who anchored Grandstand’s coverage through those tumultuous hours with his usual urbanity, found Brown a ‘broken man’ when he interviewed him on the first anniversary of the void race. But for most of the 20 years since Brown started that fateful National, the Captain has barely talked about his ‘nightmare experience’ that sullied an otherwise spotless life. Unlucky: John White rode Esha Ness (centre) to the second-fastest time in history, but the result was void Yet aged 84 and living in Petersfield, Hampshire, he spoke this week about his key role in the events of that astonishing afternoon. Brown exuded charm, however much he was vilified at the time as just the sort of patrician buffoon you would expect to find at the Jockey Club, that bastion of the ruling elite. Happily, though, he has come to terms with his notoriety.

‘I was in charge,’ he said, ‘so in that regard it was my fault. But I was exonerated in the inquiry (led by High Court judge Sir Michael Connell) that followed. They said I let the horses get a bit close to the tape — I was chastised for that. ‘But clearly Ken Evans did not wave his flag to stop the horses, and therefore the recall did not work as it should have done. I was very sad about what happened. ‘There were many factors that caused the false starts. The severe rain made the tape heavier — and it was 50 yards long, something like that. Then there were protestors on the Melling Road and that delayed things by about eight minutes. Apology: Officials Nigel Payne, Peter Greenhall and Charles Barnett (l-r) were forced to explain the fiasco ‘The horses and jockeys were all geed-up and so having to wait longer than normal made them all the more uptight — that didn’t help. Someone shouted, “Let’s go, guv”.

I had to try to bring some sort of calm to the situation.’ Brown, who left The Third Hussars in 1958, had worked his way up from officiating at point-to-point races to become one of the Jockey Club’s assistant starters, then starter, and finally senior starter. After the National fiasco, he helped out quietly in the weighing room at Ascot. As for that famous bowler hat — which he says he wore at all the big races so, as starter, he was visible amid the crowd — he sent it off to a charity auction at the Hong Kong Jockey Club. He will not be at Aintree this weekend but will watch every moment of the coverage on TV. Farce: Officials tried to stop the race in vain and despite several horses making the trip, it was declared void On that embarrassing afternoon in 1993, the BBC team of Peter O’Sullevan, John Hanmer and Jim McGrath recorded the leaders and fallers as usual; just interjecting the occasional reference to it being void. With Brown waving his flag in vain, officials out on the course as well as trainers and the crowd tried to stop the race.

By the water jump — the final fence on the first circuit — several riders became aware of the farcical situation and pulled up. Among them was Peter Scudamore, the champion jockey on Captain Dibble who was looking for his first National triumph in 13 attempts. He retired from racing within the week. Garrison Savannah, Zeta’s Lad and the previous year’s winner Party Politics all stopped. Disappointed: Punters queued to reclaim their stakes once the race was declared void While this chaos was unfolding before a global television audience, Jenny Pitman — trainer of Garrison Savannah and Esha Ness, the eventual ‘winner’ — charged into the weighing room to plead with anyone who would listen to stop the race. She was given a chair and brought a glass of water. ‘It was a dreadful exhibition of incompetence,’ she recalled to the BBC. Fourteen horses persisted into a second circuit. It was unclear whether some jockeys had mistaken officials for protestors.

But, as Dunwoody told me, it is believed that one Irish jockey said to another mid-race: ‘I’m going too damn well to pull up now.’ The crowd was subdued and jeering as the seven finishers galloped from the elbow to the winning post. Esha Ness, at 50-1, was first, Cahervillahow second, Romany King third and The Committee fourth. O’Sullevan’s mellifluous tones immediately coined the phrase: ‘The National that never was.’ Too little, too late: Stewards attempt to repair the starting rope after the initial false start Esha Ness’s jockey, 33-year-old Irishman John White, did not punch the air at the finish. He instead put his fingers to his eyes, and seemed to peer through them as if peeping at reality. He had ridden the second fastest horse in National history but won nothing. So did he know during the race that it was void, that he had capitalised on a freak occurrence? Speaking from Ireland, where he now trains horses, White said: ‘The truth is that nobody knew for certain what was happening. What they should have done is made sure we all had to stop.

They should have put down enough cones so we couldn’t jump a fence even if we wanted to. They had to stop everyone, one way or another. That was their big mistake.’ A-Z A-Z It is illegal for anyone aged under 18 to gamble Grand National A-Z A A is for Aldaniti, who, like his jockey Bob Champion, made a comeback against all the odds to win the Grand National in 1981, a feat immortalised by the film "Champions". A is also for Aintree, Liverpool L10, which staged its first Flat race in 1829, and the Liverpool Grand Steeplechase in February 1836 and for Amateurs - plenty of amateur jockeys have upstaged their professional rivals in the National, with the last member of the unpaid ranks to taste victory being journalist Marcus Armytage, who won on Mr Frisk in 1990. Eight years earlier, amateur Dick Saunders became the oldest winning jockey in the race, when partnering Grittar to victory, aged 48. Mr Bretherton was the first successful amateur - aboard Jerry in 1840.

B B is for Captain Martin William Becher, who, riding 20-1 shot Conrad in the first Grand National in 1839, took a soaking when his mount fell in a specially constructed water jump - the sixth and 22nd fence - which became known as Becher's Brook. "I never knew water tasted so foul without whisky in it", he remarked. This 1907 picture of the landing side of Becher's Brook gives you some idea of the scale of the fence. C C is for The Chair, at 5ft 2in, with a 6 foot wide ditch on the take-off side, it is Aintree's most daunting obstacle. The famous fence is actually only jumped once and is named after its position, which is opposite the 'seat' reserved for the 'distance' judge. It is located at the site of the accident that claimed the only human life in the National's history: in 1862, Joe Wynne fell here and died from his injuries. This brought about the ditch on the take-off side of the fence in an effort to slow the horses on approach.

The ground on the landing side is six inches higher than on the takeoff side, creating the opposite effect of the drop at Becher's. The fence was originally known as the Monument Jump but The Chair came into more regular use in the 1930s. C is also for Channel 4, who broadcast the Grand National meeting coverage in 2013 - the first time in the raceï¿½s history that it had been televised anywhere other than on the BBC - and for Crabbieï¿½s new sponsor of the event from 2014, which saw the first ï¿½1 million prize fund for the contest - the partnership renewed Crabbieï¿½s owner, Halewood Internationalï¿½s, longstanding relationship with Aintree and racing on a wider level. Halewood Internationalï¿½s founder, the late John Halewood, owned the Ginger McCain-trained Amberleigh House, who won the 2004 Grand National and the 2001 Becher Chase. During his career, the top-class chaser competed 11 times over the famous Grand National fences.

D D is for Devon Loch, the Queen Mother's horse who was assured of victory in the 1956 National when, with a 10-length lead, he inexplicably did the splits 50 yards from the line, almost depositing dumbstruck Dick Francis on the turf. To 'do a Devon Loch' therefore means to pluck defeat from the jaws of victory. D is also for Distance: the winning margin equivalent to more than 30 lengths, which was last achieved in the 2001 Grand National, when Red Marauder led four finishers home. Only the winner and Smarty put in a clear round, as Blowing Wind and Papillon were remounted. Other horses to win the race by a distance are Cloister (1893), Covertcoat (1913), Shaun Splash (1921), Tipperary Tim (1928) and Mr What (1958). E E is for Elbow, the kink in the 494-yard run-in, where Grand National fortunes have changed so dramatically.

In 1973, an eight-year-old called Red Rum overhauled the brave top weight Crisp and Richard Pitman to clinch the honours and, 18 years later, Seagram did the same to Pitman's son Mark, aboard Gold Cup winner Garrison Savannah. E is also for Early Mist - the first of Vincent O'Brien's three straight Grand National winners between 1953 and 1955, with Royal Tan and Quare Times taking the following two renewals, making the legendary handler the only person to saddle three winners in a row. F F is for Foinavon, the 100-1 outsider (444-1 on the Tote) for the 1967 race, who skipped clear of his rivals who were caught in a pile-up at the 23rd fence, the 4ft 6in obstacle that now bears his name. The rider less Popham Down had caused chaos, bringing almost the whole field to a standstill, except Foinavon, who was so far back his jockey had time to go round the melee and jump the fence miles clear.

Foinavon was so unfancied his owner and trainer didn't turn up to watch! F is also for Fences - there are 16 on the National course, of which 14 are jumped twice, making 30 in all, and for Five Fifteen, the new starting time for the great race from 2016, a change designed to allow even more people to view the spectacle around the world. Each Grand National fence is made from a wooden frame and covered with distinctive spruce branches sourced from forests in the Lake District G G is for Golden Miller, the 1934 winner and the only horse in history to land the Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup in the same season.

G is also for Gambles - the plunge from 33-1 to 10-1 on Papillon in 2000 cost the bookies ï¿½10million - and for Greys - only three have ever won the race: The Lamb won twice in 1868 and 1871, while Nicolaus Silver and Neptune Collognes are the only greys in the last two centuries to win, (in 1961 and 2013 respectively). H H is for Bruce Hobbs, the youngest Grand National winning jockey - he was just 17 when he drove Battleship to a narrow success in 1938, and for Handicap - with the horses allotted different weights, from 11st 10lb down to 10st, meaning that all 40 runners should theoretically cross the finishing line together. Senior BHB handicapper Phil Smith has had plenty of criticism from trainers in the past, and a few of them may have wished that he'd carried out his threat of throwing himself off the Aintree grandstand if the 2003 Grand National winner scored by more than seven lengths.

Monty's Pass romped home by 12. I I is for Ireland, which has supplied six of the last seventeen National heroes (although Silver Birch was their last winner in 2007), and for Ilex - in 1890, renowned gambler George Masterman reckoned his horse was "a certainty" under 10st 5lb. He was right - Ilex was sent off the 4-1 favourite and won easily. I is also for ITV who won the right to screen the big race on terrestrial TV from 2017. J J is for jockeys, the almost certifiable men on top. George Stevens is the most successful jockey in National history, winning five times (1856, 1863, 1864, 1869 and 1870) - twice more than anyone else. Ruby Walsh and Leighton Aspell have been the jockeys to follow in the Grand National in recent years, with two wins each.

Since 2012, any jockey - amateur or professional - riding in the Grand National must have ridden at least 10 winners over fences and a minimum of 15 in total in hurdles and chases. J is also for Jim Joel, whose Maori Venture scored in 1987. He is the oldest winning owner, at 92. The jockey room at Aintree racecourse, where jockeys prepare for the big race K K is for Count Graf Karl Kinsky, the Austro-Hungarian nobleman who became the first rider from outside the British Isles to compete in the Grand National, winning on his debut when his mare Zoedone beat just nine rivals - the smallest-ever field assembled for the race - to score in 1883. L L is for Lottery, the winner of the first Grand National in 1839, who was aptly named, given the part played by chance in every running.

L is also for Last Suspect, who sprang a 50-1 shock in 1985 and who is remembered for trainer and arch pessimist Captain Tim Forster's final words to jockey Hywel Davies: "Keep remounting." M M is for Donald 'Ginger' McCain, the Southport-born car salesman and part-time taxi driver who trained Red Rum to win three Grand Nationals (1973, 1974 and 1977), before saddling 2004 winner Amberleigh House. M is also for the Melling Road, which the runners cross on the way to the first fence and Manifesto: the epitome of a Grand National horse who ran in the race eight times between 1897 and 1904. He won twice, finished third three times, came fourth once and eighth on his final start, aged 16! He only once failed to complete.

The Melling Road dissects Aintree racecourse N N is for Nickel Coin, who in 1951 became the 13th and most recent mare to land the Grand National and for None: the number of Grand National winners ridden by champion jockeys Peter Scudamore and John Francome. Scudamore managed one third on Corbiere in 1985, while Francome finished second in 1980 and third in 1979 on Rough And Tumble. Arguably the greatest pilot of them all, Tony McCoy, broke his Grand National duck aboard Donï¿½t Push It in 2010, whilst Paul Nicholls trained his first winner in 2012, courtesy of Neptune Collognes. N is also for Nose, being Neptune Collongesï¿½ winning margin in 2012 and the shortest in the history of the race. O O is for Sir Peter O'Sullevan, the 'Voice of Racing' who delivered his first commentary on the race on radio in 1947, switching to television 13 years later.

O'Sullevan's final Grand National call was for Lord Gyllene's win in 1997, 49 hours later than expected, owing to an IRA bomb scare. O is also for Owners: holiday camp magnate Fred Pontin celebrated success in the 1971 Grand National with Specify, a win which inspired Trevor Hemmings to get into racehorse ownership, and he in turn tasted victory at Aintree with Hedgehunter in 2005, Ballabriggs in 2011 and Many Clouds in 2016. 1976 winner, Rag Trade, was owned by Raymond Bessone. Bessone was better known as Mr Teasy-Weasy. He is widely regarded as Britain's first celebrity hairdresser and had his own show at Saturday teatime. P P is for Jenny Pitman - dubbed the 'Queen of Aintree' - successful with Corbiere in 1983 and Royal Athlete 12 years later, and the first woman to have trained a National winner. Her son Mark trained Smarty, who finished second to Red Marauder in 2001.

P is also for Party Politics, who scored for coincidence backers in 1992 - his win came five days before the General Election. Party Politics, ridden by Carl Llewellyn, winning the 1992 Grand National Q Q is for the Queen Mother, who philosophically observed: "Well that's racing," as her Devon Loch capsized 50 yards from the line in the 1956 National. Q is also for Quare Times, who gave Vincent O'Brien an unprecedented Grand National hat-trick in 1955. Three years later O'Brien switched from jumping to concentrate on the Flat and won the Derby just the six times! R R is for Red Rum, the world's most famous racehorse. Having dead-heated for an Aintree selling plate the day before Foinavon's success in 1967, 'Rummy', exercised on Southport beach by Ginger McCain, returned to land the 1973 and 1974 Grand Nationals. Second in each of the two following years, he became the only three-time victor in 1977, and is now buried by the winning post.

R is also for Geraldine Rees, who became the first woman to complete the National, on Cheers in 1982, and Fred Rimell, who trained four different horses to win the Grand National between 1956-76 including a grey, Nicolaus Silver. Finally, R is for Reserves - since 2000, every year bar one (2004) has seen a full field of 40 line up. This is partly due to a system of reserves begun in 2000. Runners are declared 48 hours before the race and up to four reserves can be utilised the previous day if one of the original declarations is a non-runner by 9am. Red Rum, ridden by Tommy Stack, winning his third Grand National in 1977 S S is for Dick Saunders, whose victory as a 48-year-old amateur on Grittar in 1982 - his only ride in the race - makes him the oldest Grand National-winning rider. S is also for Tommy Stack who was on board for Red Rum's historic third win, while 1991 hero Seagram is another for the coincidence fans - Seagram sponsored the race.

Finally, S is for Spectators: crowds of around 70,000 racegoers flock to Aintree on Grand National day, while the estimated worldwide audience is 600 million, with the race being distributed to around 140 countries. T T is for Nigel Twiston-Davies, who stunned the BBC's Des Lynam after Earth Summit's 1998 victory with a brusque: "I don't do interviews." He was more forthcoming after Bindaree's win in 2002. T is also for the heroic John Thorne, a 54-year-old amateur who chased home Aldaniti on Spartan Missile in 1981. Finally T is for Topham: the family involved in the creation of the great race. Mr Edward William Topham was part of the original syndicate which first staged races at Aintree, and he took over the lease of the course in 1848, which remained within the family until it was sold in 1973. The track is now part of Jockey Club Racecourses. U U is for the USA.

With a staple diet of boring six-furlong claiming races, is it any wonder Americans are fascinated by the most pulsating horse race on the planet? Both Jay Trump (1965) and Ben Nevis (1980) started life over fences in the USA before winning the Grand National. US owners have won on ten occasions, including in 1938 with Battleship, who was owned by actor Randolph Scott's wife Marion Du Pont Scott. The most recent US-owned winner was Betty Moran's Papillon in 2000. V V is for Valentine's. In 1840 Irish amateur rider Alan Power had a big bet he would reach the (then) stone wall fence first on front-running outsider Valentine. He did, and his horse gave his name to the lesser of Aintree's two brook fences. V is also for Void race: the infamous 1993 running of the Grand National was declared void after chaotic scenes at the start.

With some horses getting tangled up in the starting tape, a false start was announced, but 30 of the 39 starters failed to heed the false start notice and though Jenny Pitman's Esha Ness completed the course in first, the race was declared void. W W is for weights. The biggest weight carried in the race is 13st 4lb by 1839 winner Lottery when he returned in 1841, only to be pulled up at Becher's second time. Horses carrying more than 11st have had a better record in recent years, with Hedgehunter in 2005, Donï¿½t Push It in 2010, Neptune Collognes in 2012 and Many Clouds in 2016 all carrying more than 11st to victory. The most carried to victory is 12st 7lb, by four horses, Cloister (1893), Manifesto (1899), Jerry M (1912) and Poethlyn (1919).

Incredibly, Manifesto returned in 1890, to carry 12st 13lb and finish third. X X is for X-ray, which brings us to the eccentric aristocrat Beltran de Osorio y Diez de Rivera. The "Iron" Duke of Albuquerque was a true Grand National nutter who between 1952 and 1976 had seven rides in the race, the last aged 57, completing once (he finished eighth on Nereo in 1974) falling three times and pulling up twice. He sustained, by his own reckoning, 107 fractures at Aintree, including a broken leg, cracked vertebrae and broken ribs. He was declared medically unfit to ride in the race in 1977. Y Y is for Arthur Yates, whose Grand National career is one of extreme fortunes. Playman, Yates's first runner, was running loose when he fell and killed jockey James Wynne in 1862.

But Yates returned to win the race with Roquefort in 1885 and Cloister, who carried 12st 7lb to win by 40 lengths, in 1893. The Youngest jockey to win the Grand National was Bruce Hobbs, who was aged just 17 when he triumphed on board Battleship in the 1938 renewal of the race. Z Z is for Zoedone, the mare who holds the record as the slowest Grand National winner - she recorded a time of 11m 39s. Owned and ridden by Bohemian diplomat Count Charles Kimsky - the mare won the 1883 renewal of the Grand National, the first time the Count had ridden in the race. Z is also for Zongalero, Nicky Henderson's first runner in the race when second to Rubstic in 1979 - and still the Seven Barrows trainer's best placing.

© Where To Bet Ltd 2004-16 (contact us: wheretobet@hotmail.com) - Golden Freeze plan exposes flaws in Carvill's Hill THE buzz swirling around the Cheltenham grandstand was like the passing of a plague of locusts. The 1992 Gold Cup was less than 30 seconds old before the packed galleries realised they were witnessing something out of the ordinary, writes Julian Muscat. Carvill's Hill (far side) and Golden Freeze tussle at Cheltenham Photo: Gerry Cranham They had seen Carvill’s Hill, the even-money favourite, jump the first fence ponderously when upsides 150-1 shot Golden Freeze, who stretched out into a clear lead. After the second fence Peter Scudamore pushed Carvill’s Hill past the Michael Bowlby-ridden Golden Freeze – only for the latter to quicken up and range back upsides. Something appeared to be afoot. That it happened right in front of the grandstand served to embellish the drama.

TV commentator Peter O’Sullevan declared that Golden Freeze - trained, like third favourite Toby Tobias by Jenny Pitman - was “clearly trying to bustle him”. It looked to some like a calculated attempt to expose Carvill’s Hill’s jumping technique. He was slow again at the third, hit the ninth and lost further ground at the 12th fence – by which time Golden Freeze was dropping away to become the most controversial footnote in Gold Cup history. Carvill’s Hill surged clear after the fourth-last. But the roars barely rose before they were strangled. The big horse – runaway winner of the Welsh National – looked increasingly like a stricken tanker. In the end he limped over the line in last place behind the 25-1 chance Cool Ground. Cool Ground - 1992 Gold Cup by flimper1 via YouTube The press would label Golden Freeze a “stalking horse” in the fevered aftermath, and there was post-race anger from Carvill’s Hill’s huge fan club.

Pitman in turn was outraged at the accusations that she had run Golden Freeze as a ‘spoiler’; she was later vindicated at an official inquiry in London which would conclude no rules had been broken. Carvill’s Hill had simply been exposed for what he was: a relentless mudlark who was too physically compromised to mix it with the best. Were you at Cheltenham to watch the 1992 Gold Cup? Were the tactics of Golden Freeze a stroke of genius or unsporting? Have your say via the comments. Comment () The 1993 National, the race that never was THE 1993 Grand National had all the familiar elements: false starts, tremendous leaps, crashing falls, a leg-weary finish and emotional scenes at the end. The only thing lacking was a winner, writes Nick Pulford. 1993 Grand National by sachahuista via YouTube This was the National that never was. The day that racing embarrassed itself on its biggest stage, turning the sport into a laughing stock and leaving a blank space in the National record books. All that mattered in the end were the false starts.

When starter Keith Brown tried to send the 39 runners on their way, the starting tape got caught up with one of the horses but disaster was averted when the recall flagman, Ken Evans, signalled a false start. The system did not work a second time, however, and all hell broke loose. Esha Ness and John White (yellow) on their way to 'victory' in the void 1993 National Photo: Healy Racing Amid utter bedlam, seven horses completed the full distance but long before the end it was clear their efforts would be in vain as the race was bound to be voided. When John White crossed the line first on Esha Ness, he was greeted by fellow rider Dean Gallagher telling him: “John, this race mightn’t go ahead.” The image of the distraught White, head in hands, remains vivid even now. In front of a worldwide audience of 300 million and with £75m in bets riding on the result, the racing authorities had shown rank incompetence and many felt Evans, employed on a casual basis at £28 a day, was scapegoated by a subsequent report on behalf of the Jockey Club.

The truth was it was a disaster waiting to happen, yet no-one in power had seen it coming. 1993 Grand National: post-race by sachahuista via YouTube With the passage of time, however, the National that never was has taken on a different hue as part of the rich tapestry of the great race. Ultimately, without the disasters as well as the triumphs, the National fabric would look very different. Were you at Aintree that day? Where does this incident rank in the long history of the Grand National? Have your say now via the comment button Comment () Pilot error nearly costs Black Caviar at Ascot BRITISH racing had never seen anything quite like Black Caviar. ‘The Wonder from Down Under’ arrived amid the sort of feverish excitement more usually associated with a Hollywood star attending a Leicester Square premiere, bringing with her a distinctly Australian sense of pageantry to Royal Ascot as the traditional red, white and blue was transformed for a day to salmon pink and black, writes Nicholas Godfrey.

Australian supermare Black Caviar arrives in Britain wearing her travel suit Photo: Getty Images Expectation levels were off the scale: Black Caviar was a 1-6 shot to extend her winning streak to 22 in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, despite being faraway from home on alien terrain and rain-softened ground. She did win, of course – but only after the closest shave of her unblemished 25-race career, and that heart-stopping moment when jockey Luke Nolen suffered what he was later to describe as a brainfade. Black Caviar looked set for a straightforward triumph as she led into the final furlong, only for Nolen – to the horror of fans on both sides of the planet – to stop riding 100 yards out, leaving the result in serious doubt as Moonlight Cloud and Restiadargent powered home on the rails. BLACK CAVIAR Diamond Jubilee Royal Ascot FULL HD by marajax via YouTube Realising his error, Nolen chucked the reins at Black Caviar, who clawed her way to the line in the last four or five strides, crossing the line in unison with Midnight Cloud.

A photo-finish determined Black Caviar had managed to keep her unbeaten record intact by the most dramatic of heads; evidently there is no official margin called ‘skin of the teeth’. Black Caviar and Luke Nolen hold on from Moonlight Cloud (right) and Restiadargent Photo: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images) Ashen-faced, a shell-shocked Nolen performed a memorable mea culpa. He had little alternative, having jeopardised Black Caviar’s place in the pantheon with his own bid for racing’s hall of infamy. “Relief is the first emotion,” admitted the jockey. “I think my heart has only just started again – it was pilot error but I got away with it.” Melbourne roars for Caviar by NewsOnABC via YouTube Were you at Royal Ascot when Aussie ace Black Caviar graced the turf in Britain? What did you think of the support for Nelly in Federation Square in Melbourne? Did jockey Luke Nolen do the right thing by admitting his error? Have your say now via the comment button . . . Comment () Brigadier Gerard gets turned over on the Knavesmire IN RACING, as in life, there are legends and then there are legends.

Some gain their accolades by virtue of remaining unbeaten, while others earn their place in equine Valhalla by seeking out every battle and emerging unvanquished and eager for the fight, writes Peter Thomas. Brigadier Gerard had already gone into the fray on 15 glorious occasions by the time he lined up against Roberto in the Benson & Hedges Gold Cup at York’s Ebor meeting in 1972. A starting price on the Knavesmire of 1-3 was a reflection of the aura that surrounded the pre-eminent racehorse of the era, whose triumphs had already encompassed distances from 5f to 1m4f, on surfaces that ranged from lightning-fast to practically flooded. Derby winner Roberto (left) was getting weight from Brigadier Gerard, but comfortably beat the 1-3 favourite The unbeaten four-year-old may have been asked to concede 12lb to that season’s Derby winner, but there was little doubt in most minds he was more than equal to the task, and as he tracked the pace set by Roberto’s Panamanian rider Braulio Baeza, everything appeared to be going according to a familiar script.

When Joe Mercer asked the Brigadier to go about his usual business, however, the response was a far cry from the swagger that had bounced aside every rival who ever encountered it. In the York grandstands and in front of countless thousands of TV sets across the nation, a hushed and awful realisation replaced the anticipated gasps of approval as Roberto maintained his punishing gallop to mete out a three-length defeat in a course-record time. Watch the final three furlongs as Roberto beats Brigadier Gerard in the Benson & Hedges Gold Cup at York’s Ebor meeting in 1972 shalakhani In the moment of defeat, there was an overwhelming sense that the natural order of things had been disturbed after two and a half seasons of metronomic excellence. In the aftermath, Mercer revealed what appeared to be a comforting explanation for this calamitous state of affairs.

“When they got back to the stables and the horse put his head down,” he revealed, “the mucus poured out of him.” Restored to good health, the great beast put the shine back on his reputation by landing the Queen Elizabeth II and the Champion Stakes, before retiring with a record of 17 wins from 18 runs, the excellence of which merely served to magnify the shock waves that hit York that fateful August afternoon. Lawrie Williamson, Brigadier Gerard's racing groom, in the pre-parade ring at Newmarket with the statue that immortalises the great Were you at York when Roberto felled the great Brigadier Gerard? What did you make of one of the sport's biggest upsets? Have your say now via the comment button. Comment () Forever famous for mystery still unsolved OH, Devon Loch! What happened to him 50 yards from the winning post in the 1956 Grand National made him instantly and eternally famous far beyond the confines of the small sphere of racing – and still remains a mystery, writes Steve Dennis.

Devon Loch Grand National Disaster, 1956 by SportingHistory via YouTube It was all very much ‘hats off for the Queen Mother’ as the well-fancied, bold-jumping Devon Loch, ridden by future thriller writer Dick Francis, led over the final fence and began to draw away from the tired E.S.B. Victory for the much-loved owner in the world’s greatest race seemed assured . . . but then something truly incredible happened to choke the cheers into stunned silence. Inexplicably, unforgettably, Devon Loch crashed to the ground, sprawling spraddle-legged before lurching jerkily upright again, the bewildered Francis thrown up around his ears. The ten-year-old seemed unable to move forward, almost foundering on his shaking legs, and in seconds E.S.B. came hurtling by to record arguably the luckiest success in the annals of the sport. “In one stride he was bounding smoothly along, in the next his hind legs stiffened and refused to function. He fell flat on his belly,” wrote Francis.

“The dream was over and the race was lost.” The reason for Devon Loch’s sudden spasm – the horse was unhurt by his fall – has yet to be satisfactorily explained, and almost certainly never will be. Did he catch a glimpse of the adjacent water jump in his peripheral vision and try to jump it? Was it an internal problem, such as heart fibrillation? Was it simply fatigue? Dejected jockey Dick Francis is led away after Devon Loch slipped and came to a standstill only 50 yards from winning the Grand National Later, Francis considered it might have been due to shock at the deafening noise washing down from the grandstands. Devon Loch, who was after all running into a narrowing ‘tunnel’ of cheering, screaming spectators, pricked his ears and lifted his head just before he went down, looking like a horse startled by his surroundings. Whatever the explanation, poor Devon Loch is remembered as the horse who couldn’t lose – but did. What do you think happened to Devon Loch? Has there ever been an unluckier loser? Have your say via the comments button. Comment () 100-1 shot who made history “RUTHERFORDS has been hampered, and so has Castle Falls.

Rondetto has fallen. Princeful has fallen. Norther has fallen. Kirtle-Lad has fallen. The Fossa has fallen. There’s a right pile-up . . . Leedsy has climbed over the fence and left his jockey there . . . and now, with all this mayhem, Foinavon has gone off on his own! He’s about 100 yards in front of everything else.” It’s the soundtrack to arguably the most dramatic episode in Grand National history, commentator Michael O’Hehir’s narration sent into overdrive by the chaos unfolding at the 23rd fence, the smallest on the course. The 1967 National will live forever in the annals of the sport, writes Steve Dennis. Most Exciting Grand National Ever! (1967) by SportingHistory via YouTube All had seemed in order as the massed cavalry bore down on the fence after Becher’s, the field led by the riderless Popham Down, who had been brought down at the first fence. Then, for reasons known only to the errant ten-year-old, he turned sharp right across the leaders and brought them crashing down like falling dominoes.

O’Hehir gabbled; the race disintegrated; a horse picked its way daintily through the disorder, took the fence like a showjumper, and began to make his lonely way towards the winning post. It was Foinavon. Foinavon races all alone after avoiding the melee Foinavon had no business winning a National. He hadn’t won a race for two seasons, hence his odds of 100-1. The tipsters had derided him, his trainer had gone to Worcester instead (where he had a winner). Stranger things have happened, but not many. There he was making his way carefully to victory, jockey John Buckingham looking round wide-eyed as the broken remnants of the race picked themselves up, scrambled over the ruined fence, and set off in pursuit. It was too late. Foinavon was not for catching, passing the post 15 lengths clear, the embodiment of the words ‘glorious uncertainty of racing’. Years later the 23rd fence was renamed in Foinavon’s honour. As though anyone could forget him. Chaotic scenes as riders attempt to get back into the race Is this the greatest upset in Grand National history?

Do you think the race is better now that scenes like this are a thing of the past. Have your say via the comments button Comment () Irish raider Vintage Crop stops a nation in Melbourne HISTORY rightly reveres the pioneer and places him on a pedestal from which he can never be toppled, writes Alastair Down. For all the great mile and 1500m runners of the modern era, no single achievement will ever eclipse the moment on May 6, 1954 when Roger Bannister ran the first sub four-minute mile. It changed the athletics world. And when Dermot Weld sent Vintage Crop to barnstorm the Melbourne Cup in 1993 he was not only breaking new ground by saddling the first-ever foreign-trained winner to land the great race, he also redrew the racing map. 1993 Melbourne Cup - Vintage Crop by TVNRacingNetwork via YouTube Weld elevated the Melbourne Cup from the ‘race that stops a nation’ to one that the world wanted to win.

And from the moment at the post-race press conference when he confounded those present by proving he knew – and loved – his Banjo Paterson better than many a native, he had Australia at his feet; a brilliant trainer who had the buccaneering sense of destiny and adventure to stage the Vintage Crop raid but also a man with a genuine feel for the culture of a nation he had crossed the world to conquer. Vintage Crop (near side) drives to his famous win at Flemington As is the way with pioneers, where Weld led others have followed – in their droves. He won it again with Media Puzzle in 2002 and, despite the typically tigerish defence of the Australians, trainers from Japan, France (twice) and Germany have triumphed since. Vintage Crop died at the age of 27 on July 14, 2014 and a statue of him stands overlooking the paddock at the Curragh – far from Flemington where he flew over, flew to victory and then flew back a hero. A magnificent horse superbly trained to pull off a success many deemed impossible but which was achieved by the meticulous planning and the genius-flecked horse mastery of Dermot Weld.

A flower is left at Vintage Crop's statue on the day he died Do you remember Vintage Crop's victory at Flemington? Share your memories via the comment button below . . . and pick up Friday's Racing Post to read more stories of racing's most stunning moments Comment () Arazi takes America by storm A CASE of choose your own superlative for a performance that beggared belief: Arazi looked nothing short of a wonderhorse with his astonishing triumph on the dirt at Churchill Downs in 1991, writes Nicholas Godfrey. Although the Francois Boutin-trained two-year-old crossed the Atlantic with a huge reputation, there is a world of difference between taking on your compatriots at Longchamp and trying to beat America’s best on their home patch. Or so we thought, because Arazi didn’t just beat America’s top dirt juveniles, he treated them with complete contempt. Arazi - 91' Breeders Cup Juvenile by DancingBrave15 via YouTube A diminutive chestnut with a blaze and three white feet, Arazi wasn’t much to look at. Looks can be deceptive, though, as he was to demonstrate in a truly extraordinary performance.

Drawn 14 of 14, Arazi had just one horse behind him in the back stretch, by which time he was 15 lengths behind the leader, the Californian bullet Bertrando. Asked to quicken, Arazi went past his rivals as if they were petrified in amber, weaving through traffic – on the inside, the outside, wherever jockey Pat Valenzuela sent him. On the home turn, only Bertrando was left in front but not for long as Arazi took dead aim and ran straight by his most serious rival. Eased down inside the final furlong, Arazi won by four and three-quarter lengths, P-Val looking to the skies seemingly as stunned as the rest of us. Arazi coasts home in front of the famous Churchill Downs grandstand “Here indeed is a superstar! Absolutely sensational!” marvelled legendary racecaller Tom Durkin, while some of the locals were moved to suggest they had seen the new Secretariat. Sadly, they hadn’t. Arazi went back to Churchill Downs and flopped in the 1992 Kentucky Derby and was never the same horse again.

But no-one who had seen him seven months previously at the same venue will ever forget it. Has there ever been a more impressive juvenile performance at the Breeders' Cup? Let us know your thoughts . . . Comment () Agony and ecstasy in Red Rum's first Grand National victory IT WAS the greatest and most agonising National of them all. It was the moment Red Rum began his career as the ultimate Aintree hero, but on the day the first emotion was to mourn the impossibly heroic Crisp in defeat, writes Brough Scott. The "impossibly heroic" Crisp pictured at Cheltenham in 1972 The giant Australian was not just trying to give 23lb to Red Rum (who was himself to carry top weight to those unmatched two further victories and two seconds over the next four years), he was going to do it the hard way by blitzing his opponents from the front in the 1973 Aintree marathon. Crisp had won the 1971 Champion Chase over two miles at Cheltenham and after two miles of this National he was a fence in front and had skipped the Aintree jumps as if they were upturned dandy brushes.

He must have felt proud as he passed the winning post. Except he had to go round again. Red Rum (number 8, left) crests the imposing hedge at Becher's Brook during the '73 National It was thrilling and terrible to watch. No horse had ever done this to a National field, but then no horse would ever be so utterly overspent. He was still well clear as he crossed the final fence with only Red Rum and the implacable Brian Fletcher in any sort of pursuit. Crisp was empty but was still galloping, Richard Pitman still pumping. The great black car might just roll over the line. We could see it was desperate. From the stands we screamed for them. Halfway up that pitiless, 494-yard run-in, Pitman, in extremis, pulled out his whip in his right hand, cracked Crisp hard on the quarters, and in one fatal moment the game was gone. Crisp rolled left away from the whip and – much worse – away from the right-hand line of the dog-legged run-in as it skirts the Chair. Pitman pulled him back on course but now all pretext of momentum drained away.

Crisp was now more rocking horse than racer. Fifty yards out they were still clear but Red Rum was swooping. The dream was becoming a nightmare. It died only in the shadow of the post. Watch highlights of the most astonishing Grand National ever run by bates1972 via YouTube It had been a race like no other. History made it even grander when Red Rum and Ginger McCain completed a hat-trick to restore the National to its status as British sport’s number-one event. Yet the postcript has to be the sight of that huge, sweat-flecked black Australian staggering, hocks buckling, into the second enclosure. Red Rum became a legend but it was Crisp’s immortality in defeat that made this the greatest day of all.

Question: Which horse was first past the post in the 1993 Grand National which was declared void due to a starting mix-up?
Answer: Esha Ness